Bad ideas, all around. Here are some of the more egregious, in no particular order:

1. Going after Kessel.

Scott's move was bizarre on a few levels, even if you buy into "The Code"-type stuff. He wasn't going after another fighter. He wasn't going eye-for-an-eye over the loss of another star player. He was trying to take out Kessel—a star, a non-fighter and a human being (at least) eight inches shorter and 70 pounds lighter than himself. In a preseason game. None of that happens if Sabres coach Ron Rolston doesn't let it.

Kessel's response was actually understandable, though it would've been tough to blame him if he went for a leisurely skate instead of retaliating in any way whatsoever.

“I just backed up,” Kessel said. “What are you going to do, you know? He’s a big boy. So if he’s coming after me, what am I going to do?”

2. Sending Kessel out against Scott.

Leafs coach Randy Carlyle didn't have to put his best player on the ice immediately after the Tropp-Devane fight. He chose to.

The Leafs were at home, so they had last change. Carlyle saw Scott, whose sole NHL purpose is scaring and punching other players, and thought matching Kessel's line against him would diffuse the situation. And of course, it didn't. It's a misread by Carlyle, if only for one reason: Scott is a Sabre for those exact occasions. The team acquired him as part of its overreaction to Milan Lucic running Miller over in 2011.

Carlyle's own versions of Scott, Colton Orr and Frazer MacLaren are injured, and the situation itself was stupid, but it's hard to see what Kessel was doing out there at all. Especially with David Clarkson on the bench.

3. Clarkson leaving the bench.

See? There's no more cut-and-dry suspension in the league than the 10-gamer that comes for jumping on the ice in the middle of a fight. Clarkson knows that, just like every other player. Paul Bissonnette got burned for it a few days before. Clarkson didn't do much after leaving the bench, either, so he didn't get his money's worth.

“I think that, obviously, we’re not that proud or happy with what went on,” Carlyle said. “And I think Dave Clarkson made a mistake, and now we pay for it.”

Now, Clarkson's out until the end of October. Whether or not you think the contract he signed in July was wise, he's still a useful player, and the Leafs have a lot tied up in him—like salary cap space. His suspension will force them to carry another player, which is a big deal, given how tight they are against the cap even with defenseman Cody Franson unsigned. Another option: Not carrying a full roster.

That's not Clarkson's fault, though—it's G.M. Dave Nonis'.

4. Miller allowing himself to get punched in the head.

That's not what you want to see from a guy who admits that a concussion basically wiped out a season of his career. But hey, goalie fight!